Purpose

To consolidate, disseminate, and gather information concerning the 710 expansion into our San Rafael neighborhood and into our surrounding neighborhoods. If you have an item that you would like posted on this blog, please e-mail the item to Peggy Drouet at pdrouet@earthlink.net

Quite a couple of days at the Metro headquarters building. On
Thursday, Metro officially hired its next CEO, Phil Washington, and
today Metrolink’s Board of Directors approved outgoing Metro CEO Art
Leahy as its next CEO.

Art is set to begin his new job on April 20 while Phil’s exact start
date is to be determined but will occur before May 29. Metro is one of
the five county transportation agencies that funds Metrolink and is
headquartered in the Metro tower adjacent to Los Angeles Union Station,
which is also Metrolink’s primary hub in the region.

Below is the news release from Metrolink:

Leahy to become Metrolink CEOOutgoing Metro and former OCTA CEO brings more than 40 years of experience to agency

LOS ANGELES – The Metrolink Board of Directors today announced Art
Leahy will become the agency’s next CEO effective April 20, 2015. The
motion and contract was unanimously approved.

“When the position became available at Metrolink, I was immediately
intrigued,” Leahy said. “Having had the opportunity to work at both
Metro and Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), I have
witnessed first-hand the incredible diligence of the Metrolink staff,
and I’m excited to have the opportunity to further grow and enhance
Southern California’s six-county rail system.”

The Southern California Regional Rail Authority (SCRRA), the agency
that governs Metrolink, is made up of an 11-member board representing
the transportation commissions of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San
Bernardino and Ventura counties. In addition to those counties,
Metrolink provides service into northern San Diego County.

“As a board, we could not be more excited about Art deciding to take
the helm of Metrolink,” said Orange County Supervisor Shawn Nelson,
chair of the Metrolink Board of Directors. “Given Art’s leadership at
Metro, along with his previous stewardship of OCTA, he brings a unique
perspective of leadership at the highest levels of transportation that
will be of tremendous value to Metrolink.”

One of the nation’s leading transit officials, Leahy served as chief
executive officer of Metro for six years. During that time, he guided
implementation of one of the largest public works programs in United
States history, securing billions in federal and state dollars to help
finance construction of dozens of transit and highway projects.

He led the completion of numerous projects funded by Los Angeles
County’s Measure R. Metro has transit and highway projects valued at
more than $14 billion, eclipsing that of any other transportation agency
in the nation.

This includes an unprecedented five new rail projects under
construction, including phase 2 of the Expo Line extension to Santa
Monica and the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension to Azusa, as well as
the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Project, the Regional Connector in downtown Los
Angeles, and the first phase of the Westside Purple Line subway
extension to Wilshire and La Cienega.

Leahy also launched a $1.2-billion overhaul of the Metro Blue Line
and guided the purchase of a new fleet of rail cars. And he helped
transform the iconic Union Station into the hub of the region’s
expanding bus and rail transit network and led the agency’s acquisition
of the 75-year-old iconic facility.

Though Metrolink is a separate transportation agency from Metro, the
two agencies work collaboratively to provide effective and efficient
public transportation options for people throughout the region. For
example, Metrolink and Metro worked together closely to ensure that
Metrolink riders would continue to transfer seamlessly to all Metro
subway, light rail and bus lines following implementation of the Metro
TAP initiative.

Metrolink offers connections to nearly 30 other public transportation
providers throughout Southern California at no additional cost. Other
Metrolink transportation connections include the OCTA bus system,
Riverside Transit Agency (RTA), Omnitrans in San Bernardino County and
Ventura Intercity Service Transit Authority (VISTA). In addition, the
Rail 2 Rail® program allows Metrolink Monthly Pass holders along the
Orange and Ventura County corridors to travel on Amtrak Pacific
Surfliner trains within the station pairs of their pass at no additional
charge.

Prior to his tenure as Metro CEO, Leahy led OCTA (2001-2009) and
served as the general manager of Metro Transit (1997-2001) in
Minneapolis-St. Paul.

While at OCTA, Leahy led efforts to secure reauthorization of the $12
billion Measure M sales tax proposal, which gained 70 percent approval
from Orange County voters in November 2006. Measure M led to the
expansion of the county’s rail and bus systems, along with numerous
enhancements of streets, highways, and traffic management systems.

Growing up Highland Park, both of Leahy’s parents worked in transit
and he followed in their footsteps. He started as a bus operator for the
Southern California Rapid Transit District (SCRTD) in Los Angeles in
1971 and rose through the ranks to become chief operations officer
before taking the position in Minneapolis.

Prior to earning a Masters of Public Administration degree from the
University of Southern California in 1982, Leahy completed a Bachelor of
Arts degree from California State University, Los Angeles in political
science (1974) and certificate in transportation management (1973) from
UCLA.

Metrolink is Southern California’s regional commuter rail service in
its 23rd year of operation. The Southern California Regional Rail
Authority (SCRRA), a joint powers authority made up of an 11-member
board representing the transportation commissions of Los Angeles,
Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties, governs the
service. Metrolink operates over seven routes through a six-county, 512
route-mile network, which includes a portion of northern San Diego
County. Metrolink is the third largest commuter rail agency in the
United States based on directional route miles and the eighth largest
based on annual ridership.